System on Chip (SOC) integrates multiple complex components previously designed as separate chips onto a single silicon chip. This provides benefits like reduced size, power consumption, and increased performance. An SOC typically includes a processor, memory, and peripheral interfaces integrated with analog and digital components. Platform-based SOC design uses pre-designed intellectual property blocks and software components to streamline development.

1. System on Chip (SOC)

2. SOC
SOC consists of at least two or more
complex micro-electronic macro
components previously integrated into
different single dies
Complex functionalities that previously
required heterogeneous components to
be connected on a PCB, are integrated
within one single silicon chip

3. SOC:Evolution
Technologies implementing embedded
systems evolved from micro-controllers and
discrete components to fully integrated SOC
Reason: advances in Silicon process
technology enabling a complete system to be
designed into one or few integrated devices
Space and Power reductions
Increased Performance

4. Features of SOC
Typically SOC incorporates
A programmable processor
On chip memory
Accelerated Functional Units (e.g. Digital Encryption
Standard block, MPEG2 decoder)
Peripheral devices
Often mixed technology designs integrating
Analog, RF Components
Micro-electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS)
Optical input/output

5. SOC Design
Time and design effort required to integrate
different types of components on a chip : a
bottleneck for SOC evolution
Design reuse to reduce time to market
Use of parts from previous designs
Making use of parts designed by third parties
Hardware and Software component model!
All for PROVEN and tested solutions, avoiding
re-design and re-verification of real-time
hardware and real-time software

6. IP based Design
Intellectual Property Cores
Parameterized components with standard
interfaces facilitating high level synthesis
Cores available in three forms
Hard
Black box in optimized layout form and encrypted
simulation model. Example: microprocessors
Firm
Synthesized netlist which can be simulated and changed
if needed
Soft
Register transfer level HDLs; user is responsible for
synthesis and layout

7. Platforms
Embedded Applications built using
common architectural blocks and
customized application specific components
Common architectures
Processor, memory, peripherals, bus structures
Common architectures and supporting
technologies (IP libraries and tools) are called
Platforms and platform based designs

8. Platform based SOC
Platform based SOC’s are systems that
contain
IP blocks like embedded CPU, embedded
memory,
Real world interfaces (e.g., PCI, USB),
Mixed signal blocks and
Software components
device drivers, real-time operating systems and
application code

9. Classes of Platforms
Full Application Platform
Platforms that let derivative product
designers create complete applications on
top of hardware-software architectures
A set of hardware modules
Example: complex dual processor architecture with
hierarchical bus system tailored to a specific
product’s requirements
A layer of firmware and driver software
Examples: Philip’s Nexperia, TI’s OMAP

10. Classes of Platforms(2)
Processor Centric Platforms
Typically centered on specific processors
Key software services like real-time OS kernel
made available through libraries
Examples: ARM Micropack, ST Microelectronics
ST100
Communication Centric Platform
Communication fabric optimized for specific
application
Fabrics often bundled with specific processors
Examples: ARM AMBA, IBM CoreConnect bus
architecture

11. Classes of Platforms(3)
Configurable(Programmable) platform
Programmable logic added to the platform
allows consumers to customize using both
hardware and software
Field programmable gate array(FPGA)
added to hard-coded processor centric
platforms
Example: Altera Excalibur platform with
ARM cores, Xilinx VertexII Pro

12. Multi-processor SOC (MPSoC)
Full application platform
Multiple processors.
CPUs, DSPs, etc.
Hardwired blocks.
Mixed-signal.
Custom memory system.
Lots of software.

13. Philips Nexperia
Multimedia
applications:
set-top box, etc.
2 CPUs, 3
busses, several
accelerators,
I/O devices.
MIPS
Trimedia
bridge
to SDRAM
bridge
bridge
I/O I/O
accelerators
Acknowledgement: Wayne Wolf

14. TI OMAP
Targets
communications,
multimedia.
Multiprocessor
with DSP, RISC.
C55x DSP
OMAP 5910:
ARM9
MMU
Memory ctrl
MPU
interface
System
DMA
control
bridge
I/O
Acknowledgement: Wayne Wolf

15. ST Nomadik
Targets mobile
multimedia.
A multiprocessor-
of-multiprocessors.
ARM9
Memory
system
I/O
bridges
Audio
accelerator
Video
accelerator
heterogeneous
multiprocessors
Acknowledgement: Wayne Wolf

16. OMAP
Open Multimedia Applications
Platform

17. OMAP
OMAP Application processor has a dual-
core architecture: ARM 9 + TMS320C55
OMAP design chain includes
Software IP: OMAP supports several
RTOS’s to suit different applications
Application and Middleware: Ported
applications and middleware like MPEG-4
decoding and audio playback

18. Design Chain for OMAP
From: A Design Chain for Embedded System, G. Martin & F. Schirrmeister, IEEE Computer, March 2002

19. OMAP Hardware Architecture
From: Dedicated Systems Magazine 2001 Q2 Jamil Chaoi

20. OMAP Hardware Architecture
ARM RISC core is well suited for control code
(OS, User Interface, OS applications)
DSP best suited for signal processing
applications like video, speech processing,
audio
Power efficient because signal processing
task on DSP consumes much less power than
on ARM

21. Example Application
Video-conferencing
C55x DSP can process in real time full video
conferencing application (audio and video at 15
images/sec) using only 40 p.c of the available
computational capability
Can manage other applications concurrently
ARM processor can handle OS operations and
other OS applications (may be Word, Excel, etc.)
Less power consumption on the whole

22. How the Architecture Works?
Both processors utilize an instruction cache
to minimize external accesses
Both core uses MMU for virtual to physical
memory translation and task-to-task memory
protection
Uses two external memory interfaces and
one internal memory port
External interfaces support to synchronous
(DRAMS) or asynchronous memory (SRAM,
FLASH)
Configured as 16 or 32 bit wide
Internal memory port for on-chip memory access
for critical OS routines or LCD frame buffer
Allow concurrent access from either processor or
DMA unit

23. Peripherals
Includes numerous interfaces to connect
peripherals or external devices from either
the DSP or GPP
Some interfaces
Camera and Display interfaces
Serial unidirectional compact camera port, 8-bit parallel
interface, 8 bit/16 bit bi-directional display interface,
OMAP internal LCD controller
Several Serial interfaces
SPI, McBSP, I2C, USB, UART

24. Software Architecture
Defines an interface scheme that allows
GPP to be the system master
Called the DSP/BIOS Bridge
DSP/BIOS Bridge provides
communications between GPP tasks and
DSP tasks
High level application developers use a
set of DLL’s and drivers

25. OMAP2
Includes multiple engines executing multiple tasks
An ARM 11 based microprocessor runs the OS and
performs supervisory control
DSP core focusses on audio codecs, echo cancellation
and noise suppression
3D graphics engine enables sophisticated graphics
rendering
Video/imaging accelerator handles streaming MPEG4
video and mega pixel-resolution camera
Digital baseband processor implements network
communications as a cellular modem handling voice
and data

26. OMAP 2 Architecture
From: www.TI.com

27. OMAP2
All blocks operate simultaneously
No degradation in quality of any service
Devices remain highly responsive
To conserve power each of these
subsystems can be shut down when not
used
SOC suited for implementation of
Smart Phone

28. Digital Media Processor
Functionalities expected in a portable media
system
Live preview : Capture, process, display
Live video capture: Compresses
Live image capture: Compresses
Live audio capture: Compresses
Video decode/playback
Still image decode/display
Audio decode/playback
Photo printing
Several of these modes operate concurrently

29. DM 310 Media Processor
Four subsystems: imaging/video, DSP, coprocessor,
ARM core
Imaging/Video system: CCD controller, preview engine,
onscreen display, video encoder
DSP: TMS32054X operating at 72 Mhz (max.) performs
bulk of audio/image/video processing operations
Co-processors: SIMD engine(8 or 16 bit), Quantization,
Variable length coder working concurrently
ARM Core: manages system level tasks, controls all
components on chip except DSP and its co-processors

30. DM 310 Architecture
From: Anatomy of digital media processor, IEEE Micro, March-April 2004

31. Application: Still Camera Engine
From: Anatomy of digital media processor, IEEE Micro, March-April 2004

32. Reconfigurable Platforms

33. Configurable SOC
Consisting of
Processor
Memory
On-chip reconfigurable hardware parts for
customization to application
Fine-grained and coarse-grained
reconfigurability
FPGA vs network of processors
Towards application specific programmable
products

34. Reconfigurable Computing
(RC)
What is it?
Compute by building a
circuit rather than
executing instructions.
Efficient for long
running computations
Video and image
processing
DSP
Network processing
Z[i] = a.X[i] + b.Y[i]
//program
Load rx, X
Mpy r1, rx, ra
Load ry, Y
Mpy r2, ry, rb
Add r3, r1, r2
Store r3, Z
+
X
* a
Y
* b
Z

35. Advantages of RC
Program
No instruction fetch, no I-cache
etc.
Bit width and constants
Assume X & Y are 8 bits
Assume a = 0.25 and b =0.5
Much smaller circuit!
+
X
*a
Y
*b
Z
8 8
6 7
8
/4 /2
 Delay
 From two shift operations and
one addition, all on 32-bits
 To one 8-bit addition (shifts are
free in hardware)

36. FPGA-based RC
Programmable fabric that can be dynamically
reconfigured
Mapping to FPGA
Only the time consuming computations are
mapped
Computation expressed in HDL
Structure
FPGA + Memory

37. Programmable Platforms
Several products
incorporate
microprocessor
and FPGA on one
chip
Configurable
logic
Micro-controller and other
processing elements
Memory

38. Triscent A7 SOC
CSL: performs
basic
combinational
and sequential
logic functions
Source: CSOC, Jurgen Becker, Proc. SBCCI’02

39. Xilinx Virtex II Pro
PowerPC based
1 to 4 PowerPCs
4 to 16 gigabit
transceivers
12 to 216
multipliers
3,000 to 50,000
logic cells
200k to 4M bits
RAM
204 to 852 I/O
Config.
logic
Up to 16 serial transceivers
• 622 Mbps to 3.125 Gbps
PowerPCs
Courtesy of Xilinx

40. Coarse grained RC: Multiple
ALUs connected
Operand routing with a hierarchical
connection network
Registers are distributed
Configure once and then run
no I-cache
Potentially an instruction level
parallelism of 100 and more
No branch instruction

41. XPP :eXtreme Processing Platform
Adaptive
reconfigurable
data processing
architecture
Processing array
elements
organised as
processing
arrays
Source: CSOC, Jurgen Becker, Proc. SBCCI’02

42. Configurable processors
Configurability:
Processor parameters (cache size,
registers, etc.)
Instructions.
Result:
HDL model for processor.
Software development environment.

43. Application-specific instruction
processors
An ASIP is a stored-memory CPU whose
architecture is tailored for a particular set of
applications.
Programmability allows changes to
implementation, use in several different
products, high data-path utilization.
Application-specific architecture provides
smaller silicon area, higher speed.

44. Retargetable compilation
microarchitectural
model
for (i=0; i<N; i++)
c[i] = func1(a[i],b[i]);
application
code
front end
code
generation
object code
from ASIP core synthesis
instruction
set definition
Acknowledgement: Wayne Wolf

45. Summary
We have learnt about SOC
Looked at OMAP in some detail
Got an introduction to the concept of
Reconfigurable computing